When the inertia of capacity expansion collides with sharp fluctuations in international oil prices, the operating logic of the nylon industry is being rewritten. In mid-August 2026, the annual meeting and innovation forum of the Nylon Branch of the China Chemical Fiber Industry Association was held in Shantou, Guangdong, where the core judgment was that the industry has entered a deep adjustment period of 'slowing capacity expansion but intensifying competition,' and the era of relying solely on scale growth is over.
Industry Transformation: From Scale Expansion to Quality Improvement
Data disclosed at the meeting showed that both nylon 6 and nylon 66 face supply-demand imbalance caused by阶段性 overcapacity. This means the previous model of relying on new capacity to drive growth is no longer sustainable; enterprises must shift from 'quantity' expansion to 'quality' improvement. Deng Jun, deputy director of the branch, emphasized in his speech that the industry needs to coordinate effective qualitative improvement with reasonable quantitative growth, adhere to quality-first and efficiency-priority. Behind this statement is a clear response to current disorderly price wars and inefficient involution.
For buyers, this transformation means that supplier selection criteria are changing—no longer purely comparing prices, but comparing product consistency and differentiation capabilities. For factories, it requires substantial adjustments in R&D investment and production management, rather than continuing the old path of capacity expansion.
Technological Innovation: New Paths to Solve Pain Points
Multiple technological breakthroughs at the forum directly targeted long-standing process pain points. Professor Cai Zhengguo's team at Donghua University introduced an anionic ring-opening polymerization of caprolactam and nylon 6 melt direct spinning technology, compressing the polymerization cycle from several hours to just over ten minutes and reducing cyclic dimer residue to below 0.01wt%, directly compatible with melt direct spinning processes. This achievement means that the long-standing problems of long hydrolysis polymerization cycles and high oligomer residue could be fundamentally solved, thereby reducing energy consumption and improving efficiency.
On the equipment side, Beijing Chonglee Machinery Engineering launched complete engineering solutions for nylon 6/66 fine denier spinning, high-strength spinning, etc., and has established deep cooperation with leading enterprises such as Euronavy, Hengshen Group, Hengyi Group, and Shenma Group. This shows that equipment manufacturers are deeply binding with downstream users to jointly promote process upgrades. In the oil agent segment, Zhejiang Transfar introduced multiple customized products for FDY, POY, and post-spinning processes, addressing issues like poor consistency and insufficient thermal stability, with measured performance comparable to international competitors, helping to improve production stability.
These technological breakthroughs all point to 'cost reduction and efficiency enhancement' and 'differentiated competition.' For factories, adopting new technologies means lower unit costs and more stable product quality; for buyers, it means more high-value-added, functional nylon products to choose from.
Green and Intelligent: Dual Engines for Reshaping Competitiveness
Driven by the 'dual carbon' goals, green and low-carbon development has become an unavoidable topic for the nylon industry. Sian New Energy introduced a smart integrated energy system that provides carbon management platforms and full-scenario intelligent control solutions for steam, hot water, refrigeration, and air compression, tailored to the high electricity, high heat, and dispersed energy systems of the nylon industry, helping enterprises systematically reduce costs and carbon emissions. Meanwhile, Hangzhou Jiersi's halogen-free flame-retardant nylon chips are compatible with POY/FDY/BCF spinning processes, with an oxygen index of 30%–32%, high mechanical property retention, and when blended with Lyocell fibers, can solve the melt-drip pain point of nylon fabrics, offering a more environmentally friendly solution for flame-retardant textiles.
In terms of intelligent manufacturing, Professor Hu Xudong from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University pointed out that the chemical fiber industry is evolving along a three-stage path: digital transformation, networked collaboration, and intelligent upgrading, with embodied robots being the next core hotspot, supporting the creation of unmanned intelligent factories in the nylon industry. This means future nylon factories will not only be production workshops but also data-driven intelligent entities, with labor costs continuously decreasing.
Regional Synergy: Lessons from the Shantou Model
As the host city of this meeting, Shantou's textile and apparel industry transformation from 'dispersed and extensive' to 'full-chain aggregation' is quite representative. Weng Chuangjie, chairman of Hongjie Underwear, introduced that Shantou has formed a production base for nylon and nylon-spandex knitted fabrics, with industrial supporting strength and development potential emerging. This case indicates that the competitiveness of regional industrial clusters no longer depends on the scale of a single link but on the completeness of upstream and downstream collaboration.
For other industrial belts nationwide, Shantou's experience suggests that integrating local resources and strengthening industrial chain collaboration are effective strategies to cope with the industry adjustment period.